6.  The applicant was born in 1963 and lives in Mirditë. The case concerns the death of the applicant’s son while he was in police custody.
7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, are summarised below. A more detailed description can be found in the Court’s decision on the admissibility of this case (Ceka v. Albania (dec.), no. 26872/05, 22 February 2011).
8.  On 6 May 2004 the applicant’s twin sons, C and E, were detained by the Rrubik police force and placed in custody on suspicion of robbery. They were almost 17 years of age at the material time.
9.  The applicant’s sons shared a cell with two other inmates, K and B. On 5 July 2004 the applicant’s son, E, and his cellmate, K, began to fight. The on-duty guard, G, alerted the control centre with a view to restoring order in the detention cell. V, the control centre officer, opened the door of the cell and took E and K to the interrogation room of the pre-trial detention facility for questioning. G escorted V and the two detainees.
10.  Upon questioning both detainees about the fight, V left the interrogation room to question the other two inmates who had been in the same cell. G remained with E and K in the interrogation room, where E agreed to make peace with K provided he was not made to share the cell with K. This request was refused by G who began arguing with E, as a result of which E was slapped hard on his face and neck and shoved out of the room. In the corridor, on the way to his cell, E lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
11.  When E regained consciousness, he complained about a painful headache, nausea and generally poor state of health. He was taken to the Rrëshen hospital in the afternoon of the same day and, upon repeated complaints, in the early hours of the morning of 6 July 2004.
12.  The doctors decided to send him for specialised treatment at the Tirana Military Hospital. The applicant submitted that E had lapsed into a coma by the time he was transported by ambulance to Tirana. Transportation by air was impossible. E died at 4 p.m. on 8 July 2004.
13.  E’s death certificate indicated that he had suffered from “beatings with a hard, bruising, blunt object” which led to his death as a result of “cerebral haemorrhage and epidural haematoma”.
14.  On 7 July 2004, following the notification of the fight between inmates, a report on the inspection of the scene was drafted.
15.  On 8 July 2004 the expert medical report stated that E had lapsed into a coma as a result of a collision with hard objects. The report further stated that the damage caused was life threatening and was in the category of serious injuries.
16.  On 9 July 2004 police officers G and V were suspended from work.
17.  On 10 July 2004 G and V were remanded in custody. G was accused of breaching the rules on on-duty service (shkelja e rregullave të shërbimit të rojes) in accordance with Article 41 § 2 of the Military Criminal Code (“MCC”). V was accused of violating the escort rules (shkelja e rregullave të shoqërimit) in accordance with Article 44 § 1 of the MCC.
18.  The forensic report of 13 July 2004 on the post-mortem examination of E provisionally concluded that death had been caused by a fracture of the base of the skull, epidural haematoma and cerebral haemorrhage, inflicted by a hard, flat, blunt object with a relatively high intensity. The report provided that the above injuries which led to the death of the applicant’s son could have been caused by his falling on the floor, on the right side of his skull. The final determination of E’s death would be given after a microscopic examination of the corpse.
19.  On 21 July 2004, following the microscopic examination of E’s corpse, the forensic expert concluded that E’s death had been caused by the contusion of the brain when the right hand side of his head hit the floor.
20.  Between 7 July 2004 and 8 September 2004 several witnesses’ statements were made concerning the incident and E’s state of health. A detailed description of the witness statements is contained in the Court’s decision on the admissibility of the case.
21.  On 8 October 2004 the Tirana prosecutor’s office, following a prior decision by the Mirditë prosecutor’s office to transfer the file, lodged a bill of indictment against G and V with the Tirana Military District Court (“the Military District Court”).
22.  The applicant was not informed of the investigation into her son’s death or of the ensuing domestic court proceedings against G and V.
23.  On 4 November 2004 V was dismissed from the police force for abuse of duty resulting in the death of a detainee in pre-trial detention.
24.  On 8 November 2004 the Military District Court found V guilty of breaching the escort rules under the first paragraph of Article 44 of the MCC as he was not supposed to intervene and escort inmates to the interrogation room by himself. The trial court sentenced him to ten months’ imprisonment. In accordance with the summary procedure which had been granted to him alone at the material time, the sentence was commuted to six months and twenty days’ imprisonment. According to the decision, the sentence started to run from the date of V’s arrest, 10 July 2004 (see paragraph 17 above). The decision became final on an unspecified date, no appeal having been filed against it.
25.  On 4 November 2004 G was dismissed from the police force for abuse of duty resulting in the death of a detainee in pre-trial detention.
26.  On 10 December 2004 the Tirana Military District Court (“the Military District Court”), as a result of the use of the summary procedure, sentenced G to eight months’ imprisonment in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 41 of the MCC. According to the decision, the sentence started to run from the date of G’s arrest, 10 July 2004 (see paragraph 17 above).
27.  On 18 January 2005, following the prosecutor’s appeal, the Tirana Military Court of Appeal sentenced G to 3 years’ imprisonment relying on the second paragraph of Article 41 of the MCC and, in accordance with the summary procedure which had been granted to him afterwards, the sentence was commuted to two years’ imprisonment. The Court further ordered G’s conditional release for two years as he had served the sentence imposed by the Military District Court and had already been released. The decision became final, no appeal having been filed against it.
28.  On an unspecified date the applicant brought a civil claim against the Mirditë police commissariat seeking compensation for non-pecuniary damage for the death of her son.
29.  On 23 January 2007 the Mirditë District Court awarded her 2,301,750 leks (ALL), approximately 17,257 euros (“EUR”) at the material time. The Mirditë District Court accepted that, while in detention, the applicant’s son had been beaten up by police officers. It observed that the police officers had not promptly informed doctors of the causes of E’s deteriorating health. Neither his family nor his representative had been informed in a timely manner. Furthermore, his state of health had not been reflected in the prison medical records. In the District Court’s view, the above circumstances engaged the direct responsibility of the police commissariat for the death of the applicant’s son. The police commissariat had failed to respect and adhere to the necessary procedures.
30.  On 31 January 2008, following an appeal by the defendant, the Tirana Court of Appeal upheld the Mirditë District Court’s decision of 13 January 2007.
31.  On 31 March 2009 the Government informed the Court that an appeal by the defendant was currently pending before the Supreme Court.
32.  On 12 February 2010 the Government informed the Court that the domestic courts’ award had been paid in full on 11 December 2009. The relevant supporting documents for this purpose confirmed that the applicant had been paid ALL 3,654,852, which also included legal costs and expenses.
33.  On 16 January 2012 the State Advocate’s Office lodged a civil action against the applicant’s lawyer with the Lezhë District Court for the return of money that he has allegedly been paid without justification by way of legal costs and expenses. The proceedings are pending.